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What in the World is Salvation?

1. A gift

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Imagine at Christmas time that your children come down stairs and open all kinds of cool gifts. Imagine there are racetracks and dolls and candy and good treats and on and on. Of course your children are understandably delighted. Next imagine these children turning to you and saying, “Thank you for the gifts. I promise I will work day and night and do extra chores until they are paid off.” You would be crushed. How rude it would be to offer to work for a gift!

Likewise how can we work for the free gift that God has given us by sending His only begotten Son to die for our sins. This was His gift. We can do nothing to earn it. Whether or not it was deserved is really irrelevant. The fact is that He chose to give it. He wants us to choose to accept it.

2. An New Identity

Matthew 5:13-16
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

To be salt has many meanings. For one salt is a seasoning. To be the salt of the earth is to shake things up a bit. This is not to be in an odd way. This is not anything causing confusion. Although this savor contains a foolishness it is not the foolishness of disarray. It is the foolishness of going against the grain. It would be salt to say, “We can know objective reality” for example.

Salt also is used to purify and heal wounds. This is an opportunity for God’s people to speak the Truth of God’s Word in Love. This will almost always have the immediate effect of causing pain just the same way that rubbing salt in a wound would cause pain. The end result however is healing. If the end result of words spoken is not healing then this is not being salt it is something else (perhaps pride).

Another use for salt is to make someone thirsty. Jesus described Himself as being the Living Water in (John 4:10). The opportunity is to live a life that makes others thirsty for the same.

The light of the world indicates the guiding nature of God’s people. The law of God is written on the hearts of His people. When following the Holy Spirit and not yourself then you can truly say, “Don’t do as I say. Do as I do.”

1 Peter 2:9-10
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

The words chosen and holy are both rendered from the Greek word hagios. This word means consecrated or holy. The implication of being called consecrated or chosen is that God has a purpose for you. One of those purposes is exposed in the verse. That purpose is to praise Him for saving us.

The word priesthood is translated from the Greek word hierateuma which also means from a sacred order. The implication here is the same as with holy and chosen. It is of being set apart for some purpose.

There are two words eis and peripoiesis in the Greek which together convey the meaning not of peculiar in the sense of an odd person but a different sort of peculiarity. The sense of the word here is to be peculiar in the way that an antique is peculiar. It is one of a kind. The implication is that a great price would be paid to purchase this peculiar item.

All of these six identities have the same general sense about them. They have the sense of being set apart for some great purpose or plan.

3. A New Relationship

Romans 8:14-17
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Wow! What a statement. To be a son or daughter of the Most High God King of the Universe. A library of books could be written on the implications of this. It is well known that abba is the Greek word for daddy. This shows the intimacy of the new relationship that we can have with God through salvation. The benefits of this relationship to name a few would be authority, inheritance, and belonging.

This authority allows God’s people to heal the sick, to preach the Gospel, to cast out demons, to baptize, to petition God, and all kinds of things beyond imagination! In short God’s people are given the authority as Jesus brother to do anything that He can do as God’s Son. There is one limitation placed on this authority. It has to be done in the name of Jesus. This simply means it must be something that Jesus Himself would do.

The inheritance is many things also. The inheritance is a heavenly inheritance. That is quite literally to be eligible for a heavenly home. The inheritance is the nations. This means that collectively all God’s people working together will reach the nations with the Gospel. The inheritance is to see the enemies of God become the friends of God through Christ.

This belonging is a great comfort. God’s people are never alone. As Father God is friend to the friendless. He is hope to the hopeless. He is husband to the widow. To belong to God is to never be forsaken.

4. Not a License to Sin

Romans 5:20-6:2
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

This is one of the most misunderstood bits of doctrine and I fear may keep many people out of heaven. Three very wrong interpretations of salvation exist. One is that it is fire insurance that allows us to continue in whatever way of living that we like. This can not be because to receive salvation we must confess our sin and choose to follow Christ. Second is that there is a great transformation and immediately after a conversion a Christian becomes perfect and never sins again and if he does then he is not a Christian. This can not be because I have never seen a perfect person yet not even a priest! Thirdly is that salvation is obtained by being good. This is not true because salvation is a free gift. In Truth salvation is to receive a new heart that Loves God and wishes to do His Will. Sometimes as imperfect beings Christians fail at this and then they have Grace to ask forgiveness. Can a Christian sin and sin and get away with it? Yes, certainly but a true Christian would not make a practice of it. If this is your intent then you do not know Jesus and the Truth is not in you.

5. A New Birth

John 3:3-7
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

This encounter with Nicodemus in the middle of the night was a secret meeting where this great spiritual leader of the Jews sought understanding of how to obtain salvation. Jesus told him that he must be born again. Nicodemus jested by saying, “how can you go back again into your mother’s womb”. Jesus was not speaking of a physical birth however. He was speaking of a spiritual birth. The fact is that the heart (spirit) of a sinner is dead. It is dead because it is not in communion with God and it can not be. The new birth is to receive a new desire in your heart to Love God and do His will.

6. A Cleansing

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Oddly enough washing of hands or washing in general has always been associated with guilt in terms of the human psyche. This is immediately apparent to anyone who is even mildly aquatinted with the disciplines of psychology or literature. Yet the washing of hands can never relieve guilt. Victims of great guilt are sentenced to a lifetime of obsessive-compulsive washing and feeling dirty and washing again all to no avail. Yet one must only be saved once to be washed eternally of all guilt.

7. A Justification

Romans 3:20-24
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

The justification that takes place with salvation sometimes just seems a little out of balance. Up in heaven it is like a court room. God the Father is judge, Satan is prosecuting attorney, and Jesus is the defense attorney. When you have a relationship with Jesus you are in there. He takes the judge aside and says daddy this is one of mine and you are off the hook just as if you never did anything wrong.

It is known that God is just. How is it that He could allow a sinner off the hook like that? Every time that Jesus tells the Father that a person is one of His, God remembers the Cross. How could a just God require a sin that was paid for so dramatically to be paid for a second time? The answer is that He could not. Jesus suffering was sufficient for anyone who is willing to accept it as payment for their own personal consequences.

8. God’s Plan for You

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Romans 8:29-31
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Incorrect interpretations of Romans 8:29-31 and other verses like it have led some to believe in the false doctrine of predestination. The key here is to step through one step at a time. First how many people did God foreknow. Obviously if He is truly omniscient then He foreknew everyone. This means that He predestined everyone to be conformed to the image of His Son. So He called them. When He called them He justified them and glorified them. Why isn’t everyone justified and glorified? Quite simply they have refused God’s call to come home and be conformed to the image of His Son. He is calling you now. Don’t refuse His call. You may never again hear it. He wants you to come home.

For more information on how to obtain salvation call 1-888-NEED-HIM or check out the ABC's of Salvation.